Knife Lake

Kanabec County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 33002800

DNR records show 3 stocking entries at Knife Lake since 2023, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (315,000 fish).

• Knife Lake has 3 DNR stocking records across 3 years (2023-2025): walleye (3).
• The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 945,000 fish on record.
• Maximum depth 15 ft, mean depth 9 ft; surface area 1,259 acres, 1,259 littoral acres, 18.2 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 2.4 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, golden redhorse, greater redhorse, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern hog sucker, northern pike, pumpkinseed, and 7 more.
• 4 public accesses on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: October 20, 2025 (targeted survey).
• Kanabec County, nearest town Mora; DNR lake number (DOW) 33002800.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 8/25/1986 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Stocking history

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2025

Catch per net (CPUE) is the DNR survey's count per gill net or trap net set; higher means more of that species were sampled, not a fishing forecast. Top species per gear shown; where we have no verified common name for a DNR code, the code itself is shown.

Knife Lake is a 1,266-acre lake in central Kanabec County located six miles north of Mora and is within the Snake River Watershed. The lake has a maximum depth of 16 ft and 99% of the lake is 15 feet or less (1,259 littoral acres). Knife River flows originate from groundwater, which allows cool water species such as walleye to flourish. Eggs were collected and fertilized from Knife River Walleyes April 10-18, 2025. This was the third consecutive year Walleyes were spawned since efforts resumed in April 2023. Prior spawning operations occurred from 1977-85. The fry produced are classified as LMS (Lower Mississippi River Strain). Due to this spawning operation, 315,000 fry (250 per littoral acre) are stocked back into Knife Lake annually, and 400,000 fry are stocked back in the Knife River annually. Due to higher than anticipated survival rates in the St. Paul hatchery in 2025, an additional 400,000 surplus fry were stocked back into the Knife River. The Knife River is 16 miles long and is stocked at five locations. Stocking occurred from May 2-4, 2025. Knife Lake was electrofished on the night of October 20, 2025, to evaluate the relative abundance of stocked and naturally produced juvenile Walleye. The water temperature was 55°F. Nine 10-minute stations were sampled. These stations were established in the fall of 2025 to conform with standardized statewide protocols. Past electrofishing evaluations have confirmed juvenile Walleye are the result of both natural reproduction and stocking. The 2025 age-0 walleye catch rate of 109/hour was higher than the lake average of 76/hr. The average catch rate of LMS stocked years is 252/hour, while the average of non-LMS stocked years is 52/hour. Age-0 Walleye ranged from 5.6 to 8.0 inches in length with a 7.0-inch average. The catch rate of Age-1 and Age-2 Walleye was 52/hour. Age-2 Walleye made up the majority of this catch. Age-1 Walleye ranged in length from approximately 9.5 to 11.5 inches, while age-2 walleyes ranged in length from approximately 11.5 to 13.5 inches. Additionally, numerous larger Walleye were observed and not netted. The high likelihood of natural Walleye reproduction makes the fry stockings contribution to the Walleye year classes unknown.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, October 20, 2025.

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